The decide overseeing Donald J. Trump’s civil fraud case has questioned whether or not a key witness dedicated perjury in the course of the former president’s trial, a brand new courtroom submitting exhibits.
The decide, Arthur F. Engoron, requested Mr. Trump’s legal professionals to handle the truthfulness of the witness, Allen H. Weisselberg, Mr. Trump’s longtime chief monetary officer. Mr. Weisselberg and Mr. Trump are each defendants within the case, which was introduced by the New York legal professional common, Letitia James.
Justice Engoron, who is predicted to challenge a choice within the nonjury case this month, cited a latest New York Instances article about Mr. Weisselberg’s testimony. The article reported that Mr. Weisselberg, 76, is negotiating a possible settlement with the Manhattan district legal professional’s workplace that may require him to plead responsible to perjury for his testimony.
“I after all need to know whether or not Mr. Weisselberg is now altering his tune, and whether or not he’s admitting he lied underneath oath in my courtroom at this trial,” Justice Engoron wrote to the legal professionals on each side of the case in a latest electronic mail made public on Tuesday.
A lawyer representing Mr. Trump within the civil case, Christopher M. Kise, declined to remark. A spokeswoman for the legal professional common declined to remark, as did a spokeswoman for the Manhattan district legal professional’s workplace. Mr. Weisselberg’s lawyer, Seth Rosenberg, has declined to touch upon the negotiations via a spokesman for his agency, Clayman Rosenberg Kirshner & Linder.
The complicated scenario stems from overlapping prison and civil circumstances introduced by the 2 New York legislation enforcement businesses.
The district legal professional, Alvin L. Bragg, has jurisdiction over perjury and different crimes dedicated in Manhattan. Along with scrutinizing Mr. Weisselberg’s testimony within the civil fraud case, Mr. Bragg is making ready to place Mr. Trump on trial subsequent month for prison fees stemming from a hush-money cost to a porn star.
Within the civil fraud case, the legal professional common, Ms. James, accused Mr. Trump, Mr. Weisselberg and others of fraudulently inflating the previous president’s web price and is asking the decide to impose a roughly $370 million penalty. The monthslong trial occurred within the fall.
Mr. Weisselberg was one in every of greater than 40 witnesses. Whereas it’s unclear which of his statements might need caught the district legal professional’s consideration, the legal professional common’s workplace stopped questioning him shortly after Forbes magazine published an article through which it accused Mr. Weisselberg of getting lied underneath oath about his involvement in valuing Mr. Trump’s penthouse residence.
In his electronic mail, Justice Engoron requested legal professionals for Mr. Trump and Ms. James to inform him by Wednesday afternoon what they know concerning the scenario and the way they’d recommend he tackle it in his closing ruling within the civil fraud case.
“I don’t need to ignore something in a case of this magnitude,” he added, suggesting that he may use the plea negotiations as a motive to disqualify Mr. Weisselberg’s testimony altogether.
Justice Engoron additionally requested the legal professionals on each side whether or not Mr. Weisselberg’s negotiations ought to have an effect on the timing of his choice. The decide, who may bar Mr. Trump from operating his circle of relatives enterprise and power him to pay a big monetary penalty, had been anticipated to challenge a ruling by Jan. 31.
Mr. Bragg’s prosecutors contacted Mr. Weisselberg’s legal professionals quickly after the trial wrapped up, setting in movement the negotiation over a possible plea, The Instances reported final week.
It’s unclear whether or not Mr. Weisselberg will conform to plead to felony or misdemeanor fees. If he can’t strike a take care of prosecutors, Mr. Bragg may search to indict him.
This isn’t the primary time Mr. Weisselberg has confronted authorized jeopardy. In 2022, he pleaded responsible to an unrelated tax fraud case and served about 100 days within the Rikers Island jail complicated. The most recent negotiations may end in Mr. Weisselberg, a senior citizen who has dedicated no violent crimes, going to jail for a second time.
Mr. Trump’s authorized crew has denounced the district legal professional’s long-running pursuit of Mr. Weisselberg, calling it a politically motivated effort to assault Mr. Trump, who’s the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination. Mr. Bragg, Ms. James and Justice Engoron are all Democrats.
Prosecutors, although, usually say that perjury should be stamped out wherever it’s discovered to keep away from corrupting the prison justice system. And Mr. Weisselberg’s testimony got here in a high-profile setting, making him extra weak to scrutiny.
